Taal Fuluri - Palm and Banana fritters, a traditional Bengali dish

Taaler bora for my Naru Gopals on Janmastami Day

One can easily perceive the arrival of the Janmashtami day from the aroma of “Taal-er-bora” in the making emanating from various households. The aroma is a strong one and can be felt from almost about a mile. The three ‘naru-gopals’ of mine [my children] at this point of time start demanding for the immensely tasty and delightful Palmyra fritters, which acts like a energy burst for me and instigates my mind to break the barrier of “generalized fear” regarding the toughness of Palmyra processing and thus take upon the task to fulfil their desire.

Directions:

1. The pulp of mature fruit is extracted directly from the
3 kernels of the one whole Palmyra palm nut
and hanged in a folded muslin or cheesecloth for draining water or liquids out
over a bowl for one hour. The well hung pulp is now more thicker without
bitterness.

2. To prepare the Taal fuluri take the hung
Palmyra pulp in a bowl, add all the ingredients except cooking oil and make
a thick batter, mix
well. Keep aside for 10 to 15 minutes.

3. After resting period whip the pulp batter about 2 to 3 minutes with a spoon to make it somewhat fluffy.

4. Heat the oil in a deep frying pan to fry the Bengali sweetmeat until smoking point, now keep the fire to low.

5. Use two spoons to make a ball of batter and drop it in the boiling oil. Fry until shinny golden in color.

6. Taal fuluri or Taal bora is ready, but it is best if served at room temperature after one day.

7. Otherwise for more healthier option, you can make burnt Palmyra pitha [taler pitha] with the same ingredients in plantain leaf envelop over a hot skillet.

The enlightened Philosophy, "Crow-and-Taal Fruit". On the top of a tree was a nice Taal fruit. A crow went there and the fruit fell down. Some learned scholars saw this and began discussing. The fruit fell because the crow shook the limb. One said, as the crow was landing the fruit happened to fall, this frightened the crow, so the crow flew away. The fruit was ripe, and the weight of the crow’s landing broke the fruit from the branch, another one said.
Don’t waste time with the useless argument of what happens,when happens and why happens. "Now the fruit is there. Take it and enjoy" is to become Krishna conscious, which is to "Live and let live. Live on present, do your best and be happy."

Prep time: 00:10
| Cook time:
00:05
|
Total time: 00:15 | Yield: 2 servingsIngredients
Ingredients:
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